MOSCOW – In a series of tweets posted early Saturday morning, the man in charge of Russian space agency Roscosmos said the country’s cooperation with other nations aboard the International Space Station will not be restored unless “illegal sanctions” from the U.S., Canada, European Union and Japan on Russia are lifted.
Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin said his request to these nations for the removal of sanctions impacting Russia’s rocket and space industry have received “carbon-copied” responses that promised only to “promote further cooperation within the ISS and its operation,” an operation in which he said Russia plays a role so vital that “the ISS will die by its own death” by the time the 28 EU countries even “deign to read” Roscosmos’ letter.
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Rogozin said sanctions aimed at blocking Russia’s financial, economic and production activities were designed to “kill the Russian economy, plunge our people into despair and hunger, and bring our country to its knees.” While he went on to say that the sanctions will be unable to do that, Rogozin called then for the “complete and unconditional lifting” of the sanctions as the only possible way to restore normal relations among countries operating the space station.
At the time of this report, neither NASA nor Administrator Bill Nelson have issued a public response to the new development.
Read Rogozin’s Twitter thread — translated to English and compiled — below: